News Flash (25th May 2020): Top Stories Of The Day

1. The Supreme Court permits Air India to operate without leaving the middle seats vacant

Air India to operate international flight service with middle seat booking as permitted by the Supreme Court. “Air India shall be allowed to operate non-scheduled foreign flights with middle seats booking for next 10 days,” Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad Arvind Bobde said. The circular dated May 22 indicated that the guidelines which prohibited the occupancy of the middle seats to maintain social distance applied only to domestic operations and not to international trips. 

2. New dual degree provisions for college students approved by UGC

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has recently approved a proposal that will now allow the students to pursue two degrees simultaneously to help them improve their career prospects. A panel was set up last year to examine this idea which was chaired by UGC’s Chairman Bhushan Patwardhan. Because the regular degree programs mandate minimum attendance criteria, the second degree has to be through distance or online mode. He also mentioned that “an official notification will be issued soon in this regard

3. CBSE examination to be conducted in 15,000 centres across India: HRD Minister

“The pending board exams of class 10 and 12 would be conducted at 15,000 examination centres across the country instead of 3,000 centres as planned earlier”, announced Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. The exams will now be held from July 1 to July 15. The students would appear for exams at schools in which they are enrolled rather than external examination centres. This has been done to ensure social and minimises travel for students., There will be no exam centre in COVID-19 containment zones.

4. France: There will be no delay in supply of Rafale jets to India

“There will be no delay in delivery of 36 Rafale jets to India as the timeline finalised for the supply of the fighter jets will be strictly respected”, said French Ambassador Emmanuel Lenain. India had signed an agreement with France in September 2016 for the obtaining 36 Rafale fighter jets for a cost of around Rs 58,000 crore. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh received the first fighter jet at a French airbase last year in October.

5. New personal care brand, ‘FRSH’ launched by Salman Khan, starts with sanitisers

Bollywood superstar, Salman Khan has recently launched his new business venture called ‘FRSH’, which is a personal care brand. Sanitisers are the premier product which the company has introduced. The launch of the venture was announced by Salman Khan himself on social media in the late evening on 24^th May by posting a video message.

6. Asteroid with a comet-like tail spotted near Jupiter which is the first of its kind

Researchers at the prestigious University of Hawaii have observed a ‘one of its kind’ asteroid near the orbit of Jupiter. The 2019 LD2 is the only “active” Jupiter Trojan to be known. Large groups of asteroids located in the same path of Jupiter and are inert are known as Trojans. ‘2019 LD2’ is unique because it is actually a crossover between asteroids and comets and possesses a special comet-like tail. 

7. Unmanned Chinese helicopters which can fire strike may be deployed along Indian border

Chinese state media recently reported that China’s first indigenously developed unmanned helicopter made its maiden flight and may be deployed along the Indian border. China’s state-owned aerospace and defence company announce that some of the many special features of the helicopter include electronic disruption, target indication, fire strike, cargo delivery and nuclear radiation. It can even take off at an elevation of as much as 5 Km.

8. Locust swarms spotted in Jaipur responsible for affecting more than half of Rajasthan’s 33 districts

Huge swarms of locusts were observed in Jaipur, today morning. The officials of the department of agriculture reported that the swarms were on their way to Dausa. About half of Rajasthan’s districts has been severely affected by the unfortunate invasion of these swarms. Officials also reported that these swarms began their journey from Nagaur. 

9. Clamshells folding smartphone with rotating cameras patented by Xiaomi

CNIPA filings showed that, recently, the popular smartphone company, Xiaomi has patented foldable smartphones with clamshell display and rotating quad-cameras on the upper half bar. The images show that in order to help protect the display, there is a flexible screen with zero notches which folds inwards.  

10. CBSE warns students of class 9 to 12 against revenge porn, discusses cyber safety

Recently, the central board of secondary education has published a safety booklet for students of class 9 to class 12. The booklet warns students against revenge porn and advises students to restrict online friendships to a small number. “Teenagers in the age group of 14-18 years are the worst victims of revenge porn,” the booklet said. It has also asked students to set a limit on stuff they share on online platforms and real-life friends.

11. Photographer creates masks with photos of hidden parts of the face to reveal identity

A Kerala based digital photographer has come up with an innovative idea and developed masks which have photos of the hidden part of the face superimposed on it. This would help in revealing the identity of the person quickly. “I’ve made 1000 masks in two days and got an order of another 5000,” said the photographer. He said that wearing these masks could be helpful in examination halls and other occasions. 

12. Girl who cycled 1,200 Km offered education sponsorship by Lok Janshakti Party

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), has offered education sponsorship to Jyoti Kumari, the girl who cycled about 1,200 km from Gurugram to Bihar with her father. LJP president, Chirag Paswan said he has been in talks with the girl and her family and has motivated her to pursue education, he said, “I’ll sponsor her education in any streams she thinks is the best for her”.